Mikko Koivu struck a blow for his own captaincy Wednesday night. With the Wild on the verge of yet another loss, Koivu was on the verge of being lumped in with a couple of other captains: Edward J. Smith and Max Pruss.

Messrs. Smith and Pruss were captains of the Titanic and Hindenburg, respectively.

This has been a very messy start for the Wild and their team of 18,000, which is holding firm but looking rather shaky over the long haul. So far, the Wild have taken to Todd Richards’ new system about as well as Russians take to tobacco rationing.

But Koivu scored the only goal during the shootout and the Wild escaped 3-2. Afterward, they were thrilled with the result, even though they allowed Colorado a point on Xcel ice.

“You know, that was a long road trip and it was tough to lose that many games,” goalie Nik Backstrom said. “It’s getting better. We have made some huge steps.”

The Wild won by virtue of two power-play scores and Koivu’s shootout goal. As for five-on-five play, the meat and potatoes of any hockey game, the Wild have shown little inclination toward being the aggressive, up-tempo, offense-oriented team Richards promised when he took over the job. It was a good slogan, right up there with a chicken in every pot. And so far, just as difficult to make good on.

To this point, the Wild have scored seven even-strength goals in eight games. They have been scored upon 23 times while five on five. Not good. So there remains the suspicion that the team does not have the personnel – the speed – to play this type of style. Contrary to coach Richards’ assurances, perhaps not all teams can play this way.

“We’re really working on that,” Antti Miettinen said. “It’s been going in the right direction. We’re communicating a little better.”

There are two other frightening aspects of the Wild’s rough start. The first is that they’ve looked lethargic at the start of many games. That usually leads to a rather large hole from which they have to dig out. Richards repeatedly has bemoaned that his guys don’t appear ready to compete from the opening faceoff.

Hey Todd, it’s your job to make sure they’re ready to compete. I could see if this were happening midway through the seemingly endless NHL regular season. Guys hit a lull. It happens to every team. But this has been happening during the first two weeks, and with a new coach and a new system, no less. That isn’t enough to keep their interest? Whoa, then Richards has problems.

Fortunately for them on Wednesday, the Avalanche began parading to the penalty box very early. How often do you see a team get two penalties for too many men on the ice and one for shooting the puck over the glass in the same game? That really helped the home team.

Secondly, what on earth has happened to Brent Burns? There were times in previous years when he often was the best player on the ice. He was a dynamic, physical player with jets on his skates and a scoring touch around the net. So far this young season, he has looked nothing like his former self. Mediocre forwards turned him inside out on the last road trip. And in eight games he’s already an incredible minus-10.

Afterward, Richards wouldn’t say Burns was struggling, but he agreed he wasn’t playing as well as he could.

“As a coach, this is something we have to help him with,” Richards said.

Burns opened the scoring by sneaking in for a backdoor power-play goal. I thought that might get him going. Later, he gave the puck away twice in one second-period sequence and that led directly to Colorado’s second goal.

Injuries haven’t helped the Wild. Martin Havlat, allegedly the team’s most dangerous scorer, has missed time with a pulled groin. That makes him a fitting replacement for Marian Gaborik. Petr Sykora, who might not have much left in the tank anyway, also is out with a pulled groin. Clearly the Wild need to hire a groin guy.

The Wild already are mired in the basement. That is a lousy place to be in a bad economy. Perhaps they deserve our patience. They’ve been competitive since they’ve been in the league. Clearly this is a transition year.

On the other hand, pro sports is all about what have you done for us lately. And when a team is playing poorly, all the green, third jerseys in the world can’t cover that up.

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